The field of the invention is metal polishing and the invention relates more particularly to the cleaning of a polished article and more particularly to a polished wheel. Many motor vehicles use decorative, highly polished aluminum wheels which, of course, must be polished and cleaned prior to sale. The polishing step includes the use of a polishing compound which is difficult to remove from a freshly polished wheel. The polishing compound typically includes a greasy or waxy substance which makes the removal particularly difficult. In the past, a common method of cleaning such wheels is to place the wheel to be cleaned on a turntable in a drum. The wheel is then sprayed with high pressure hot water which causes the wheel to spin. Next it is removed from the barrel, hand washed and wiped, inspected and packaged. A typical wheel cleaning line employs seven workers and is a labor-intensive process. A method of power washing articles is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,057 which shows a machine for washing articles under high pressure followed by draining and drying. A method utilizing a room-sized chamber is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,720 designed for cleaning jet engine components. U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,971 shows a method and apparatus for refinishing wheels. None of these devices would be useful for cleaning the polishing compound from a highly polished aluminum wheel.